Lamborghini Newport Beach in Costa Mesa accepted bitcoins—a virtual currency—as payment for a used Tesla Model S electric vehicle. The purchase was initiated by a customer who found the vehicle online and asked the dealership if he could pay for it in bitcoins, according to the dealership’s general manager, Pietro Frigerio.
“I was aware of bitcoins but didn’t expect to deal with them so soon,” Frigerio said. “We did our due diligence and evaluated the risk. It was very straightforward, like a PayPal (transaction).”
The medical school at the University of California, Irvine will be looking for a new dean after Dr. Ralph Clayman announced he’ll leave the post next summer instead of seeking an additional five years in the job. University Chancellor Michael Drake and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Howard Gillman said in a Nov. 27 email to faculty and staff that Clayman will return to faculty status on July 1. They said his “passionate commitment to patient care and quality” have benefited the school. Clayman spent nearly five years in the job. He said in a letter to his leadership team that he planned to take a sabbatical before returning to the Department of Urology.
Investors in the former Medical Capital Holdings in Tustin got payouts stemming from legal settlements and asset sales. The approximately $300 million payout added up to 28 cents per each dollar the investors lost in what has been called a Ponzi scheme. Federal regulators shut down Medical Capital four years ago.
Yorba Linda-based electrical equipment maker Radius Power has been acquired by Astrodyne Corp. on undisclosed terms. Radius Power specializes in electromagnetic-interference filters, which are electronic devices used to suppress what’s considered undesirable electrical disturbance. Its various types of filters are used in the medical and telecommunications industries, as well as by the military and other custom users. The company doesn’t disclose financial information. Mansfield, Mass.-based Astrodyne makes and distributes AC/DC power supplies and converters, among other products, and serves the medical, aerospace and defense, and industrial markets.
Trinity Broadcasting Network cofounder Paul Crouch, died Nov. 30 at age 79. No cause was given, but Crouch had battled degenerative heart disease for years, according to news reports. He founded the world’s biggest network of Christian programming with his wife, Jan, in 1973, and the couple hosted the “Praise the Lord” program for years.
Temporary Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Becking tentatively ruled the city of Newport Beach didn’t check with the California Coastal Commission regarding wetlands before it approved the 1,375-home Banning Ranch project, which is now on hold. The nonprofit Banning Ranch Conservancy sued over the development, saying the land the homes would be built on is the biggest chunk of private property on the Southern California coast that’s undeveloped and that it’s home to protected wildlife species.
A Circuit Court jury in Miami awarded homebuilder Lennar Corp. $1 billion in damages in a defamation lawsuit Lennar filed against Nicolas Marsch III, a developer based in La Jolla, Marsch’s company, Briarwood Capital LLC, and Barry Minkow, who Lennar accused Marsch of hiring to defame it. Lennar officials said the decision clears the company and its chief operating officer, Jon Jaffe, who’s based in Orange County. Minkow pleaded guilty in 2011 to conspiracy to commit stock fraud and is serving five years in federal prison.
Lori Ann Farrell, director of finance for the city of Huntington Beach, has been nominated to the Board of Harbor Commissioners. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster made the nomination, which the City Council must confirm. The nomination is for a six-year term.
A Better Business Bureau branch will open in Orange after the organization’s nine-month absence from the county after BBB standards violations. The office will take complaints from the public and offer other services.
